Fat Tires and Full Suspension Prototypes

Next week Tech Tuesday we will touch on fat tire bikes and why they are awesome. For now imagine your mountain bike tire to be 4″ wide. Yes 4″. They’ve been around for several years. The Surly Pugsley in purple was my first experience with fat bikes, this was in 2005. It was single speed, I was in North Carolina. It was awesome for bombing through woods, making my own line on the trail and really not giving a crap what I ran into. Think monster truck with a bike. (You do need forward momentum for it to work!)

Salsa Cycles recently released photos of a full suspension fat tire bike

For those that live in North Carolina or on the West Coast won’t get this. What are fat bikes and why does this matter? The answer for the first question comes Tuesday. The answer for the second question is simple.

Because they can.

Monster truck with front and rear suspension to make your own path, hit the sand, hit the snow and be fine when you hit those logs or rocks in the way.

The inspiration for this project came from numerous people within our team (in a strangely timely convergence actually) and from the fact that fatbikes are being ridden all year long as opposed to being strictly thought of as snow or winter bikes….

These are prototypes. We expect to learn a lot from them. They may or may not eventually become an actual product. That is undecided at this time.

Fat Tires and Full Suspension Prototypes was last modified: August 12th, 2015 by Arleigh

Arleigh Greenwald has over 15+ years of bicycle and outdoor industry experience spanning the spectrum of professional mechanic to GM, and sales rep. In 2008, she was inspired to create the inclusive community for women, and families to be empowered to live an active and healthy lifestyle. Bike Shop Girl was then born, and has since become the leader of the women's cycling empowerment.

1 comment

steve14 Jan ’12 at 6:56 am

I rode a Pugsley awhile back and found it completely liberating as well as completely exhausting. I’d definitely like one some day.

The weirdest bike I’ve tried was a Coker 36″ bike. An awful bike as far as build quality goes, but those tires are so huge that you can easily ride up a stairway. I’d love to see more work with 36″ wheels and some good tires for them. Heck – a 32 or 36″ wheel with thinnish tires would make an amazing commuter.

About Me

Hey, I'm Arleigh - the founder of Bike Shop Girl. I have spent most of my life immersed in the bicycle industry. These days I am focused on helping you ride more and worry less. Have a biking question? Reach out!